


But if you would love me

by Pokkiwrites



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Minor Angst, Minor Suicide Mention, One Shot, The Frog Prince AU, Yamato is a frog, brief temari reference, frog yam, he is a little frog, he is like maybe 5 inches tall, i mean not really - Freeform, im love him, it is so cute, its not serious though, kind of, minor inosaku, minor sasunaru if u squint, no seriously i cannot stress how tiny of a frog yamato is, small shikamaru cameo, the smallest hint of shikatema
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26386537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokkiwrites/pseuds/Pokkiwrites
Summary: “Well, I wasn’t expecting the jutsu to be a very complex one.” She starts. Sakura leans forward, Yamato still cupped in her hands. “I was honestly expecting something like a time limit, you know, that after a few hours Yamato-san would simply turn back.” She stops.Aoba looks distressed. “Is it not that simple?”Ino quirks her lips to the side and shakes her head. Before anyone can get too down though, she quickly offers up the information. “It isn’t simple, but it also isn’t very complex,” Ino blushes despite herself. “It’s actually a little… intimate.”aka the frog prince au that nobody asked for
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou
Comments: 14
Kudos: 66





	But if you would love me

**Author's Note:**

> i can't believe i wrote a naruto fic in 2020  
> title is from the original frog prince fairytale  
> edit: changed the title

“Okay…” Sakura starts slowly, staring down at the frog in her cupped hands. “So, let me get this straight. You were out on patrol with Genma-san-”

“And Aoba-san, as well.” The frog croaks up at her, making her blink and stumble over her words. Sakura chews on her lip and awkwardly clears her throat, trying her best not to freak out. She nods, correcting her mistake as she very carefully continues. 

“Right, with Genma-san and Aoba-san,” She tacks on. “Sorry.” The little green frog bobs his head twice in response, his fluffy brown hair bouncing off of the happuri forehead protector that sits around his face. The human-like movement makes Sakura’s next words stick a little in her throat at the strangeness of it all. “And you were cornered by enemy nin, one of whom has a jutsu that can… turn people into frogs. Have I got that correct?” She asks.

“Yes.” Yamato answers firmly. His eyes slowly begin to squint- so slow that Sakura mildly wonders if her sensei is even aware he is doing so -until opaque eyelids slide over his irises while he continues peering straight forward. Sakura is so bewildered that she clicks her teeth together. “Our squad was able to apprehend the enemies, but not before one of them had cast his jutsu. Originally, he had-” Yamato squeaks abruptly as his chest puffs out, startling Sakura so bad that it makes her jump. The movement causes Yamato, who is actually a weirdly tiny frog, to be tossed slightly into the air. He’s only in the air for a split second, but then his chest suddenly contracts with such a force that it pushes him backward and makes him land on his back. He flails for a second before regaining his balance, and flips himself back onto his feet. He slaps his webbed feet against the skin of Sakura’s hand while turning back to face her, making a damp plopping noise as he does so. Yamato looks back up at his student. “I apologize,” He says nonchalantly. “I don’t have control over that yet.” 

Sakura feels like she might faint. She has no idea how her sensei is able to stay so collected after being turned into a frog. She takes a moment to be grateful for Yamato’s professionalism, and also to be thankful that she was not the one turned into a frog. She doesn’t think she would be half as calm as Yamato is. Perhaps it’s his ANBU training, or even his ROOT upbringing, that allows him to be entirely composed in the face of stressful scenarios. It’s one of his strongest traits and was one of the reasons why she enjoyed him as her captain. Still, she thinks the unexpectedness or sheer ridiculousness of being turned into a frog would manage to crack anyone, even her ever impassive sensei. “That’s okay,” She says, hoping her voice isn’t actually as high as it sounds in her ears. “Keep going.” She prompts him to continue. 

“Yes, as I was saying. Originally, the enemy nin had intended to cast his jutsu onto Aoba-san, but I was able to throw myself into his firing range and shield him from the attack. We had no idea what the jutsu would do.” Sakura smiles at that. Yamato has always been so selfless. It is entirely within his character to throw himself in front of an unknown enemy attack in order to protect his comrades. He had sacrificed himself for his team, Sakura thinks it endearing, even if all it did was turn him into a very small frog. 

“Uh-huh.” She says, still not quite understanding what she can do in this circumstance. “So, why did you come to me, then?” She asks.

“You are the strongest medical nin we have in Konoha. We figured you may be able to undo this.” Yamato states simply. It’s a logical enough conclusion for his team to come to. Sakura glances up to see Aoba and Genma standing outside of her home, awkwardly toeing the dirt, and flicks her eyes back to Yamato. She swallows.

“I can try.” She lowers her hands to set him down on the table underneath her window. Yamato quickly steps onto it, his feet flopping against the wood. Once he has settled in a patch of sunlight (she imagines he is probably cold and trying to warm himself) Sakura hovers her hand over him. A gentle teal glow begins to cover Yamato, and his eyes close in that freakishly slow way again as the feeling washes over him. It’s not like she was ever afraid or grossed out by amphibians. Hell, she actually even finds Gamakichi to be quite cute, but for some reason, the combination of Yamato’s features still being attached to his frog self is very disorientating for her. 

After a couple more seconds, Sakura frowns. “Sensei, I’m not feeling anything to heal. You still have plenty of chakra and you aren’t injured. Whatever this jutsu is, it isn’t anything I can fix.” She stops her chakra flow and Yamato opens his eyes again to look at her. As a frog, he has a kind of peculiar blank expression, almost looking as though he has no thoughts at all. Though currently, if frogs could look disappointed, this might be the saddest looking frog Sakura has ever seen. Her heart clenches at the feeling of Yamato being sad, and she looks out to Aoba and Genma helplessly. Genma quickly turns his head, obviously trying his best not to look worried, while Aoba is staring directly at her, pleading eyes hidden behind his glasses. She simply shakes her head at him and watches his shoulders sink. Desperate to help her sensei, she suddenly comes up with a possible solution. “Sensei, you said you apprehended the men who did this to you right?” Yamato nods again and Sakura very pointedly does not think about how weird it is that he still has his hair as it flops against his headband again. “Why don’t we have Ino see him? She could find a way to reverse the jutsu through her mind transfer.” Sakura swears she sees Yamato’s eyes sparkle at that. She smiles and flips her palm over so he can hop back onto her hand. Yamato does so dutifully. “Okay, let’s go get her.” She says brightly.

-

It took a few minutes before Ino could stop screaming. Out of all the ways she expected her day going, finding out Yamato-san had been turned into a frog was probably the last thing she would’ve guessed could have happened. When Sakura had bounded into her office with a frog dressed like her former teacher, she really thought that Naruto had had something to do with it. A weird prank he had decided to pull because he was bored with Sasuke out of the village again. But then the frog had opened its mouth and said in a very casual tone, “Hello, Yamanaka-chan,” and Ino had promptly fainted. If she hadn’t been woken up to the frog version of an ANBU special OPs ranking ninja asking her if she was alright and immediately sending her into a screaming fit, she probably would have assumed it was all a dream.

But here she is, one hand on the forehead of a random Ame ninja, searching through his mind to try and find a way to reverse his jutsu. It takes her less than five minutes to navigate through this man's weak mind before finding herself in front of his jutsus. Many of them are meek and common, and he doesn’t seem to be very strong or skilled as a ninja, but he does know a lot of them. It takes her another minute and a half before ending up at the frog transformation jutsu. She pushes through and then pauses. 

“Oh,” she says out loud, unable to hold herself back. She can feel the four of them perk up as she speaks, wanting to know what she found. Ino purses her lips and peels her hand off his forehead, taking a steadying breath and sliding her eyes open. Genma looks pointedly at her as he holds the unconscious man up by the collar of his flak jacket, his pale knuckles and hard flat line of his lips are the only signs of tension in his body. Ino can tell that he is angry at the man for trying to hurt his friends and turning his kōhai into an amphibian, but is still doing his best to keep up appearances. Ino nods at him, and Genma drops the man back into his cell with a dull  _ thump _ as his body hits the floor. She turns around.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting the jutsu to be a very complex one.” She starts. Sakura leans forward, Yamato still cupped in her hands. “I was honestly expecting something like a time limit, you know, that after a few hours Yamato-san would simply turn back.” She stops.

Aoba looks distressed. “Is it not that simple?”

Ino quirks her lips to the side and shakes her head. Before anyone can get too down though, she quickly offers up the information. “It isn’t simple, but it also isn’t very complex,” Ino blushes despite herself. “It’s actually a little… intimate.” 

-

Kakashi is very over being Hokage. He doesn’t like to do paperwork, he hates that everyone keeps calling him “Hokage-sama” despite how many times he has told them- no, more like  _ begged  _ them to stop. And most of all, he hates not being able to protect his fellow comrades in battle anymore. Now that Naruto and Sasuke have ended the war, there aren’t any threats large enough to warrant the Hokage being sent out to missions anymore, which means that his people could very well end up being hurt on missions that  _ he  _ sent them on. It isn’t like he doesn’t trust his friends to fight, or that he believes them weak, he knows very well that every ninja in Konoha is skilled. It’s just that, well, it’s just that sometimes there are situations one can’t prepare for, things that sneak up on a person no matter how well skilled they are. Some scenarios that no one could have ever possibly guessed would have happened. 

Like Genma, Aoba, Sakura-chan, and her girlfriend walking into your office holding a very small, very  _ froglike  _ version of your strongest ANBU and telling you that he is under a transformation jutsu that none of them can break. 

“Uh.” Kakashi says rather eloquently, peering behind his ever growing mountain of paperwork to watch as Genma very carefully sets down a  _ froggie Tenzō  _ onto his desk. Tenzō smacks his feet across the desk and sits right in front of Kakashi, looking up at him in a very determined way for a frog. Kakashi feels like his eyes are about to fall out of his head with how hard he’s staring. “Can I… help you?” He asks, voice breaking on the last syllable.

“We need you to summon Naruto.” Yamato answers as duteously as ever. Kakashi suddenly feels very light headed.

Kakashi turns his attention back to the four Jonin in his office, somehow feeling out of place. He can feel the panic rising in his body, not wanting to believe that his favorite kōhai is actually an amphibian that can talk. Oh and has hair still. And big giant black eyes that still somehow have undereye circles. And isn’t that just so like Tenzō? To be so diligently overworked and underslept that even in  _ froggie form  _ he looks tired. Kakashi sucks his teeth and looks at Aoba. 

“Aoba,” He says. “Why don’t you go off and fetch my precious student for us, won’t you?” He even manages to surprise himself with how relaxed he sounds even though he feels like his throat is going to close in on itself. He narrows his eyes, remembering a key part of the mission that caused this. “Seeing as how this man is a frog due to you.” He can’t help but seethe a little, even though he  _ knows  _ that Aoba is not at fault here. He’s just always been extremely protective over Tenzō, ever since that day he saved him from Danzō. Kakashi has lost a lot of people, has been unable to protect so many of those he cares about. Tenzō had been the very first one that he was actually able to  _ save  _ rather than destroy. He has always done everything in his power to make sure that nothing terrible has ever happened to him again, especially after how greatly he had failed him during the Fourth Shinobi War, and it hurts to see him hurt again, Even if he just is in the form of a tiny frog. 

Aoba winces at the accusation and all but flees the office. Genma stares blankly over at him, and Kakashi sighs as he knows what he is thinking. He leans back in his chair, dropping his chin in one hand and waves the other. “Maa,” He cooes, closing his eyes. “Go after him and tell him of course I didn’t mean that. Make sure Naruto is here within the hour, or else I have half a mind to send you both on an early vacation this year.”

Genma rolls his eyes at the threat, understanding the implication, before turning and chasing after Aoba. Kakashi hums and tilts his head to peer at Tenzō, who is looking back up at him. Even behind those thoughtless looking black eyes, Kakashi can still read him fairly easily, and can see the way that Tenzō is thinking. He caught on to the threats and how Kakashi was especially spiteful towards Aoba, and is trying to figure out why. Kakashi simply hums and smiles in that way that makes his eyes crease. 

“My, Tenzō,” He says cheerfully. “You make such a cute frog!” Tenzō opens his mouth, to protest no doubt, but instead accidentally lets out a creaky ribbit. His eyes widen in shock at the feel of it, and just as he tries speaking again, his chest bubbles up and forces his eyes up to the ceiling as he croaks again. It’s a startlingly silly sight, and Kakashi offers up some nervous laughter. Sakura flinches from where she’s standing and Ino’s face pales just slightly. Obviously, no one in the room is quite at ease with the events unfolding in front of them. “Maa,” Kakashi chuckles, reaching a finger down to gently rub at the space between Tenzō’s eyes, making him squint. “See? So cute.”

Kakashi isn’t sure if frogs could look indignant, but Tenzō is certainly doing his best to appear so. “Senpai, frogs are not cute. And I especially do not think that me being a frog changes this in any way.” Tenzō states, with such a firm and factual tone that Kakashi actually takes a moment to ponder that statement. Is… Is Tenzō implying that he finds himself to be less than cute? The idea pangs Kakashi’s heart, Tenzō had grown into a very handsome man. Why would he not think himself cute? Before Kakashi has the chance to think of a way to rebuke that thought, Ino speaks up.

“Um, Yamato-san,” She sounds nervous and unsure, like she shouldn’t be saying this. “Are you sure you want to wait for Naruto? We can always just-” Tenzō squeaks very suddenly, making Kakashi drop his eyes to look at him. He thinks that he is trying to glare.

“Naruto might know how to undo this!” He exclaims, making Ino squish her face up in a way that says she disapproves. “He has spent time in Mount Myōboku with the sage toads, it is the only option we have left.” Ino and Sakura exchange glances in a way that only couples seem to be able to do, like they’re reading each other's minds. Neither of them protest, however, leaving everyone in an awkward and tense silence. Ino and Sakura clearly know something that they aren’t sharing, and by the way froggie Tenzō is very pointedly not looking at Kakashi, it means that he knows it too. Kakashi’s eyes narrow at the three of them. This is another thing he hates about being Hokage, nobody feels like they can confide in him anymore. 

As the Hokage, it is his business to know everything that happens within the village, or of any possible threats that might be lurking outside of it. But because of his position, things that aren’t of immediate importance often are kept from him, either due to shinobi being worried of getting punished or of them not wanting to burden Kakashi with anything else that could worry him. It’s like when Shikamaru suddenly became very quiet about topics that weren’t work related and was tightlipped during casual conversations. It had gone on like that for two more months, before Kakashi began to get worried that something very serious was being hidden from him for his sake. He had asked Shikamaru to stay behind one night and had to weasel him into talking. It was never like Shikamaru was all ever that talkative, but something about the young man being so reserved about everything that wasn’t mission related became worrisome. In the end, he needed to order Shikamaru to tell him what was the matter. The poor kid had awkwardly admitted that he had gone on a date with Temari of the Sand, but she hadn’t spoken to him since. It made Shikamaru worry about the possibility of a future relationship with her and he wasn’t sure how to go about the situation as he had never had time for dates before. It was sweet and endearing to hear and Kakashi had quickly offered up advice despite being single himself. Kakashi had been relieved at first to know it was something so trivial, but quickly noticed that nearly every other Jonin between Konoha and Suna were all painfully aware of the romance between the Sand Princess and the Nara clan head. It was then that Kakashi somberly realized that he may know everything about his village, but he was entirely clueless about his people. 

Before he had the chance to dwell on the moment for any longer, Naruto came marching into the office, squinting at everyone and cleaning out his ear with his pinky finger. “Ma Ma, Kakashi-sensei, what’s with all the fuss? Why did senbon-face and sunglasses drag me in here, I didn’t do it!”

Genma quirks an eyebrow, following in after him with Aoba in tow. “Do what?” He asks.

Naruto throws his hands up. “I don’t know! Nothing! Why am I in trouble??” Kakashi has spent seven years with Naruto and the kid has never gotten quieter with age. If anything, Kakashi thinks he probably got louder. 

“You aren’t in trouble!” Aoba tells him in exasperation, his sunglasses askew on his face. “We need your help.”

Naruto’s face sobers immediately, dropping his hand from his ear and closing it into a fist at his side. He looks over to Sakura and Ino, then settles hard eyes on Kakashi. “What is it?” He demands, and Kakashi is still awed by the sheer ferocity of Naruto. Always ready at the drop of a hat to protect his friends when he has to. 

Kakashi smiles and holds his hands up in mock surrender, waving them gently to show that there’s no need to get riled up. “It isn’t anything serious like that.” He promises, and Naruto’s shoulders instantly relax. However, Genma makes a noise at the thought, and Tenzō croaks sharply up at him from his desk. The sound makes Naruto look down and he cocks his head to the side at the sight of him. Tenzō patters his little feet around so that he faces Naruto.

“Hokage-sama!” Aoba squawks indignantly. “If it wasn’t such a big deal then why-”

“What is that.” Naruto interrupts plainly, pointing down at Tenzō in confusion. 

“Hello Naruto,” Tenzō says. 

There’s about a five second pause before all hell suddenly breaks loose. Naruto’s jaw drops open and he yells at the top of his lungs, making Ino jump and swear at him. Kakashi swears he sees the lens of Aoba’s glasses crack at the pitch of it. Sakura starts shouting at Naruto to shut up and let Kakashi speak, while Naruto screams back at her that frogs shouldn’t be able to talk. She gives him an incredulous expression, “You talk to toads all the time!” She screeches. 

“Yeah, but they’re  _ sage toads!”  _ He bellows back. “Normal toads don’t talk!”

“It’s not a toad!” Ino chimes in, shaking her fist in Naruto’s face. “He’s a frog!”

“Normal frogs aren’t supposed to talk either, ponytail!” He hollers, voice raising a pitch in tone. 

“I am not a normal frog.” Tenzō says as loud as he can, making Naruto turn back to him.

“No shit, you’re not!” He screams, jabbing his finger at him again. “Why are you dressed like Yamato-sensei!?” He asks out of nowhere. Really, Kakashi is surprised that it took him this long to notice. “That’s your first question?” Genma asks, sounding rather bored in spite of the heavy commotion happening at the moment. Naruto apparently does not hear him as instead he asks Tenzō, “Did you  _ eat Yamato-sensei?”  _ at the same time. Naruto whips his head up to stare wildly at Kakashi. “Did Yamato-sensei get eaten  _ again _ ??”

“He didn’t eat Yamato!” Aoba shouts. “He is Yamato!”

The sentence makes Naruto stop and stare at Aoba like the man sprouted an extra four arms. It’s a long enough break that Tenzō opens his mouth to try and speak again, but an aggressive “Shannaro!!!” slices through the silence. Naruto has half a second to prepare himself before Sakura is slamming her fist into the back of his skull and sending him plummeting into the floorboards. They break under the pressure and splinter everywhere, and Kakashi takes the time to mourn his floor as Naruto lays limply in the broken pieces. 

“Right!” Kakashi chirps happily. “So now you see why I called you in.” Naruto groans quietly as he pulls himself out of the floor. “Tenzō here is in need of your help. We were hoping that you would be able to provide a way to undo the transformation jutsu he is under so that he can be himself again.”

Tenzō gives an affirming nod as Naruto stands, pulling at his shoulder. He frowns at them both. “Me? How could I help?” He asks dumbly.

Sakura chokes and lifts her fist again like she’s going to hit him. Naruto flinches and hides behind Genma, who in turn takes a wide step in the opposite direction, but Ino just gently places her hands on Sakura’s bicep and steps forward. “You spent all that time training at Mount Myōboku with the sage toads, don’t you know a way to reverse this?”

Naruto scratches the back of his head and hums. “Mmm, but they were toads. Not frogs. And none of them were under any transformation jutsus, they were just normal toads.”

“I thought you said they  _ weren’t  _ normal toads?” Aoba points out. 

Naruto gives him a pissed off look. “They were  _ normal sage toads,”  _ He corrects himself, turning back to Kakashi and Tenzō. “None of them were human. They wouldn’t need to know any way to reverse a transformation jutsu like this.” He winces and looks down at Tenzō. “I’m sorry Yamato, but there’s nothing I can do.” 

A flood of despair washes through Kakashi at the thought of Tenzō being stuck like this. Nobody moves and the room goes silent once again. “So,” He says desperately around the lump in his throat. “There’s nothing we can do?”

Sakura and Ino look at each other in that way again. “Well.” Sakura says, still holding eye contact with Ino. “There is something.” Ino says.

-

“I’m sorry Yamato, but there’s nothing I can do.” Naruto says.

Yamato feels like his stupid heart is going to explode and he’s going to have to die as a fucking frog. This whole day has been nothing but a panic, and his inner dialogue has just been a constant stream of  _ ‘fuckfuckfuckingfuck. What the fuck! What in the fuck!!!’  _ He had honestly thought that Sakura would just be able to reverse the jutsu, but when that turned out to be a dead end, he and his team had basically been running around like chickens without heads and sporadically picking up a new addition to their batshit crazy troupe on every stop they made along the way. He just wants to not be a frog! Is that too much to ask? All he wanted to do was finish his mission, go home, take a bath, and go to bed. But someone out there decided that his life was apparently better spent as a slimy little frog. A slimy little frog with  _ hair  _ and a shinobi headband on his stupid green fucking face!

He really thought there was going to be nothing worse than living as a frog, until they had gone to Ino for help. Then he realized that yeah, he would rather die as a frog than have to do what it entailed to reverse the jutsu. Ino had very shyly admitted to him, and his audience of his frog enablers, that the only way to undo the jutsu was through a kiss. From the person that Yamato loves. Because of course it was. 

Embarrassed and too damned proud to admit that he was just another stereotypical kōhai who has been in love with his senpai since that day Kakashi had spared his life all those years ago, Yamato had demanded to see Naruto. He had clung to blind faith that all the training his student had with the sage toads would provide him with a way to undo the jutsu. Sakura and Aoba had expressed their doubts, while Genma simply scooped his frog self into his hands and took off for the Hokage’s office. At least  _ one  _ of them had their head on straight.

But now, his trump card turns out to have been based on nothing, and Naruto has no way of magically fixing all of Yamato’s problems. Instead, Ino, Sakura, Genma, and Aoba are all staring at him in that way that tells him he has one of two options. Turn around and admit to Kakashi in front of everyone that he has been in love with him for years, or two, he can choose to live the rest of his years as Konoha’s only ANBU frog ninja. Or three, he can jump as hard as he can and break through the glass pane of the Hokage's office windows and plummet fifty feet until he dies on impact with the concrete floor. But seeing as he all but built the entire office after Pein’s attack on the village, Yamato knows with certainty that he has no chance of breaking the strong glass of the windows, especially not as he is right now. He and the construction team had used reinforced glass to ensure that nothing would be able to penetrate them. If anything, his stupid little frog body would probably just splat against the window and flatten him like a pancake, but maybe even that is better than asking Kakashi to kiss him. 

Just the thought of having to tell Kakashi that the only way to turn him back is to kiss him is mortifying, and the knowledge that Kakashi’s rejection is inevitable hurts even worse. Yamato was never particularly attractive as a human, and now that he’s a frog, he’s much more repulsive than before. The thought makes his chest ache, but he’s just come to accept it as fact. You can’t get mad at facts, he rationalizes. Would he be angry at the sky for being blue? Or wind for being cold? It’s just the way that it is, there’s no need to be upset over it. Normally, he isn’t. It’s just that when he drifts off to sleep imagining what it might feel like to have another body next to him, or someone to cook dinner for, or read books with, it does leave an aching behind at the knowledge that it can never come to be. And when that body takes on the shape of Kakashi, the most beautiful and powerful man in all of Konoha, the idea that he would want to be with his weaker, less attractive subordinate is laughable.

And now he’s a frog, so the idea has become downright hilarious. The thought makes Yamato sink into himself. Maybe he’s just better as a frog. Maybe Kakashi will keep him in his office as a pet. It’s not like a frog would need a house to live in, some young strong shinobi will probably inherit it. Maybe they will have someone to sleep with, or cook for. Hell, they’d probably have a better use for it than Yamato ever would. 

“So, there’s nothing we can do?” Kakashi says, and he sounds almost sad about it. He’s probably thinking about how there’s now a position on ANBU that needs to be filled and all the work that he’s going to have to go through to replace Yamato.

“Well.” Sakura says slowly, making Yamato freeze in place. No, no, no, please. Just let him die a frog. He’s better off as Kakashi’s pet. 

Ino says carefully, “There is something.”

Maybe being a pancake isn’t so bad. He could probably smack against the window right now and die. Then he wouldn’t have to die of embarrassment after Kakashi rejects him in front of everybody.

“What is it?” Kakashi asks, leaning forwards. Yamato estimates how far he’d have to jump before hitting glass. “What can we do?” He wonders how badly it would hurt to die by smashing his face into a window. 

“Yamato-sensei?” Sakura asks gently, prompting him to speak. Naruto whips his head between Sakura and Yamato so fast that he’s probably going to give himself whiplash. Grey hair starts falling into his line of sight as Kakashi, ever the asshole, starts craning his neck to look at him in the face. Yamato wonders if frogs can blush. 

“What is it Tenzō?” He asks so sincerely that Yamato thinks he’s going to cry.

He takes a moment to debate whether or not he’s going to commit suicide via window, before finally accepting his fate. After he rejects him, Kakashi probably won’t even want to keep him as a pet, he thinks sadly, he will have to live in a pond.

Yamato flips his body around and Kakashi snaps back into his chair, waiting for him to speak. Yamato really feels like he might have a heart attack (can frogs even have heart attacks?)

“Kakashi,” he whimpers, voice a lot smaller than it was before. “I, uh,” He doesn’t think he can do it. “Ino looked into the jutsu user’s mind and saw that, um, there is only one way to reverse it.”

Kakashi holds his breath, clearly wanting to know what it is, but isn’t willing to rush Yamato. At least he’s always known when to listen patiently and not to push. He’s always been very patient with Yamato, after seeing first hand all the abuse he had suffered in ROOT. It has taken him years to be able to speak his mind freely, something he has never taken for granted. After leaving ROOT and integrating into ANBU, Yamato started to use his voice, and after a while, would never hold his tongue like he used to while working for Danzō. Kakashi had taught him that, but sometimes, he still stuttered over his own words, or felt the need to hold his tongue. And each time Kakashi had patiently waited for him to speak, never rushed him, never spoke over him. Simply waited for him and let him take all the time he needed. 

“The way to reverse the jutsu,” He says, trying to prepare himself for the sting of rejection. “Is through…” The words are so cheesy and humiliating that they are sticky in his mouth, not wanting to come out. He takes a second, but forces himself to speak. “Is through a true love’s kiss.” Naruto coughs behind him, and he can hear the sound of someone’s hand slapping over his mouth before he has the chance to say anything else. Yamato is very grateful, he doesn’t think he can handle Naruto’s reaction right now. He wants to stop talking, he wants to go find a riverbed and just make peace with living as a frog, he’s sure that there are lily pads that are comfortable enough, but he makes himself keep talking. If not for his own sake, then for Kakashi, who deserves to know what Yamato has really thought of him for all his life. He owes him that much. “And, that person, Kakashi… He’s you. I’m sorry, I am, but I love you. You’re the only way to reverse the jutsu.” He makes himself close his eyes and shrink down, so embarrassed that he can’t even bear to be in Kakashi’s presence. Kakashi, who deserves so much better than him, who deserves someone just as beautiful and strong and smart, someone miles better than Yamato. 

But then there’s a collective gasp behind Yamato and he’s being lifted into the air suddenly. Yamato’s stomach jumps wildly, caught entirely off guard, and he has just barely enough time to open his eyes and be struck by Kakashi with his mask yanked down before he is pressing his lips against Yamato.

There’s a blinding flash of light and a strange jolting feeling in his body and Yamato thinks that he might’ve just died by seeing Kakashi without his mask. As though he must’ve committed a mortal sin and someone was striking him down because of it, but before very long at all, Yamato is all sprawling limbs and fingers and he’s too big to be held in Kakashi’s hands anymore so they both go falling backwards under the sudden weight of Yamato’s normal body.

Yamato is on the ground with Kakashi, straddling him as he sits on top of him, and staring at Kakashi’s unmasked, smiling face. He has time to think that  _ this  _ must be why Kakashi always wears a mask, because the sight of his smile is so gorgeous that it has to be hidden otherwise it would permanently blind everyone who saw it. Yamato thinks that if he were to go blind at the cost of seeing his smile then he’d pay it gladly and be enamoured by the memory of it for the rest of his life anyway. 

“You kissed me,” he says breathlessly, amazed by it. He presses his fingertips to his lips, trying to trace the ghost of Kakashi’s lips on his. 

Kakashi lifts one hand to rest on Yamato’s hip and the other to hold the side of his face, gently brushing his thumb against his cheek. “Of course I would,” he says fondly. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“Yeah.” Yamato answers honestly, too stunned to say anything else. His candor makes Kakashi’s face scrunch up sadly. 

“I’ve been wanting to for years, Tenzō,” He whispers sweetly. “I just couldn't find a good enough excuse to get away with it.” Get away with it, he says, as if Yamato would have done anything other than  _ welcome  _ it. They stay there for a gentle moment, just sitting in their confessions, when Naruto suddenly shouts.

“We saw Kakashi without his mask!” He whoops, making Ino giggle wildly. “Shikamaru and Sasuke are never going to believe it!” He cheers like a little kid who’s just won the grand prize, but Yamato is the real winner here, smiling down and gently tugging Kakashi’s mask over his nose again.

“You know, maybe you should be turned into a cute frog more often.” He jokes while Yamato fits the mask in place. 

Yamato has never been more glad to have been struck by a jutsu. 

**Author's Note:**

> I was minding my business scrolling through twitter when I came across this art: https://twitter.com/FrangeJust/status/1303827370894385157?s=20
> 
> I was so compelled by it that I just suddenly needed to write.
> 
> This is a completely random, spur of the moment, had to sit down and write the entire fic at once moment. I have written so many stories that end up incomplete and stay as WIPs forever, but for some reason my brain needed to put this one down completed. I don't have any excuses for myself, but I'm rather proud of it.


End file.
